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‘MI5 man’ link to fake money case

A CASE against four men accused of running one of the biggest currency counterfeiting operations in Europe collapsed after it emerged that the state withheld information about a fifth suspect who the defence alleged may have been working for MI5, the British security service.

The Special Criminal Court trial of Kevin Flanagan, 43, Liam Delaney 42, Andrew Poole, 43, and Anthony Sloan, 57, who were charged with possession of equipment to print fake money in Borris-in-Ossory in Co Laois, collapsed earlier this month.

It is understood the trial and garda investigation has cost the state at least €1m. A spokesman for Alan Shatter, the justice minister, said he had requested the garda commissioner to report to him on the case. Niall Collins, Fianna Fail’s justice spokesman, called for any report to be made public.

In the fourth week of the trial, a garda mistakenly gave the defence a fingerprint analysis